1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to scrapbooks, fragrance impregnated paper, and diffusion barriers for volatile aromatic compounds.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Paper has long been used as a substrate for fragrances. Many examples of paper-based air fresheners are readily available in commerce. Because fragrances, by their very nature, are volatile compounds. Without some type of containment, they evaporate rapidly into the atmosphere. In addition, multiple fragrances in close proximity tend to mix and lose their individuality.
During the past several decades, the hobby of scrapbooking has become increasingly popular. The popularity has spawned an entire industry dedicated to fulfilling the needs of scrapbooking hobbyists. Scrapbooks are typically glorified photo albums dedicated to recording and preserving events of interest, as well as personal and family histories. The detail, complexity and ornateness of scrapbooks is limited only by the hobbyist's imagination. The compilation of a single ornate scrapbook can represent the expenditure of many hundreds of hours of time and many hundreds of dollars.
Memories of a particular event or a particular series of related events generally involve all of the senses: sights, sounds and smells. There is a trend in scrapbooking that attempts to memorialize events in ways that they will be well remembered. The manipulative creativity that accompanies digital photography has certainly enhanced the sight aspect of the recorded memory. Low-power sound chips, such as the multi-level analog sound storage of Winbond Electronics Corporation of America, provide an opportunity to store sound aspects of particular events. Such chips are small enough that they could be incorporated in a playable module stored in a pocket on the pages of a scrapbook and removed for playing. The smells associated with particular events pose certain problems related to storage within a scrapbook. Fragrances, by their very nature, must be volatile compounds so that they can either sublimate or evaporate into the air. Clearly, unless a the compound emanating the fragrance is stored in a sealed container, it will eventually be lost to the atmosphere. In addition, volatile compounds readily diffuse through materials that are porous or have a molecular structure that allows the volatile compound to be absorbed and pass through the material. The diffusion of volatile compounds through materials, such as paper, makes it impossible to store volatile compounds for any length of time, as well as to maintain multiple fragrances stored in close proximity as discrete and separate compounds.